


Just Smile

by funnygirlthatbelle13



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, Iron dad and Spider son, Panic Attacks, Peter Parker Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-06-02
Packaged: 2019-05-17 04:47:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14825529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/funnygirlthatbelle13/pseuds/funnygirlthatbelle13
Summary: Peter’s life has been hell this week, and it really starts to take a toll on him. Tony helps the best he can.





	Just Smile

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, this is just a fun idea I had based on RDJ’s version of the song “Smile.” All I could think of was Tony trying to comfort his boy.

High school is bullshit.

While this was hardly a new discovery (MJ said some variation of this statement every period or so), Peter had never been so acutely aware of it as he had been this week. All in all, there were ten main reasons for this.

1) Toomes’ trial had been this week and, as much as he tried to suppress it, Peter couldn’t help but to feel guilty for tearing this family apart.

2) Flash had taken the worst moments of a former friend’s life and turned them into a joke, though very few people found his taunting remarks very funny.

3) The school had accidentally ordered too much broccoli, and had been serving their overcooked nastiness all week. Everyone agreed that the smell in the cafeteria was unbearable, but Peter smelt that all day, regardless of where he was in the building.

4) Ned had caught bronchitis and was at home recovering. While Peter was thankful for his inability to get sick, he’d rather be stuck at home than at school without his best friend. 

5) Midterms were coming.

6) Aunt May was working longer hours than normal. She usually did this close to big tests, but he hated the quiet at home.

7) Though they barely saw each other, Peter felt like May was constantly on him about getting a job. Apparently, even though Mr. Stark paid him (or gave him an allowance, depending on who you asked) for Spider-Man-ing, that wasn’t a good enough job. She texted him whenever she found any bodega, restaurant, or bookstore that was hiring. But high school, Spider-Man, and a job all at once? He didn’t think it was possible.

8) Karen, having finally understood that dating Liz was no longer possible, had decided to get Peter to date MJ. 

9) He might not have gotten enough sleep. Peter usually ran on less than three hours a night, but this week he’d barely been clocking one hour a night. He was pretty sure at least half of his blood was RedBull at this point. 

10) After a couple weeks of frequent feedback and attention, he had not heard from Mr. Stark in days. 

The last one had been particularly rough to deal with. As much as everything regarding Toomes had sucked, he had to admit that the positive feedback from Mr. Stark had made it mostly worth it. But now it seemed he was being put on the back burner once more. He hated to feel needy, but it hurt to be put on read again. 

So that Friday afternoon, Peter was particularly excited to get out of the awful smelling school and out patrolling the streets.   
“Hey, Penis!”   
At least, that had been his plan until Flash had cornered him near the band room. While this was far from unusual, he really didn’t have the energy to deal with this at the moment.   
“Figures that the minute Liz gets together with you, everything falls to shit in her life.” 

Peter desperately wanted to ignore the bully’s taunts, but almost all of his energy was currently being funneled into not puking because of the damn broccoli. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying not to imagine how much shit he’d be in if he puked on Flash’s $200 sneakers.   
“Hey, Flaccid!” a familiar voice called, “Leave him alone!” 

Peter’s mind had only just processed MJ’s words before he ran off. He tried his best not to feel guilty for not thanking her, but no sooner had he dashed off campus than he saw a burning building. 

“Holy shit,” he whispered, trying to focus his hearing. There were at least seven or eight people still in there. Darting into an alley, he pulled on his suit.   
“Karen, alert the fire department,” he said as he pulled on the mask, adrenaline beginning to course through him.   
“There’s a fire truck on its way,” she informed him.   
“Thanks, Karen,” he whispered as he jumped off a building into the one on fire. 

All he could sense was the smoke and the heat surrounding him. Was there anything else? He couldn’t be sure. Through tear-filled eyes, he tried to locate any sign of life. A muffled cough. It was barely audible over the roaring flames, but his heightened senses managed to pick it up. It was from the back room. He started working to bust down the door. He heard a small child crying on the other side of the door.  
“Don’t worry, I’m coming!” he shouted, finally breaking down the door. 

Eight. There were eight people, including the toddler who was staring up at him.  
“Spider-Man!” the little girl shouted. A huge wave of emotion crashed over him, or maybe that was the lightheadedness.   
“Hi, kiddo. I’m here to get you guys out of here.”   
Gently, he picked the child up, trying to hide just how unsteady he felt.  
“Okay, everybody,” he said, hoping he sounded like he knew what was going on, “Follow me.” 

The sunlight felt foreign to his senses. The smokeless air felt frozen in his lungs. Distantly, he could hear sirens and feel a small tug at his leg. Looking down, he saw the toddler staring up at him with concern in her eyes.  
“Are you okay, Spider-Man?”  
“Yeah, Yeah. I’m fine. Totally. Yeah. Be safe. Have a great day!”   
And with that, he was swinging from building to building, trying to clear his head. He had only made it about five blocks before a way of lightheadedness hit him.   
“Your vitals are not within parameters,” Karen informed him, “You should get some rest.”  
“Just need to get something to eat. Initiate Delmar Protocol.” 

Named for his favorite bodega owner, the protocol was intended to subtly alter his voice so people Peter regularly interacted wouldn’t connect the webslinger to the weeb.   
“Hi, can I have a number five?” he asked Mrs. Ortega, the woman behind the counter.   
Though he’d always love Delmar’s, he had grown fond of Ortega’s while Delmar’s had been under construction.   
“Sure thing,” Mrs. Ortega said with a smile, “That’ll be $4.83.”

Sitting up on the roof of an apartment building munching on his sandwich, Peter felt the closest he had to calm in days. Though the smell of smoke still lingered in his nostrils, the adrenaline was finally starting to fade from his system.   
“Your heart rate is better but still high,” Karen informed him, “Would you like me to run a diagnostic?”   
“No thanks, Karen. I’m okay.”   
That was a lie, and he knew it, but there was nothing Karen could do to help him. No one could help him. 

It took him what felt an eternity and a millisecond to process what happened next. He felt his chest heaving for no reason. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t think.   
“Karen, call Mr. Stark,” he managed, gasping for air.   
“Hey, are the rumors about you and the burning build-why am I being sent your vitals?”   
“Mr. Stark-something’s wrong-think-heart attack,” he managed to say between gasping breaths.   
“Okay, kid, stay still. I’ll be there in five, no, in two minutes.” 

He tried to focus on something, anything that was going on around him. The traffic. His gasping, aching breaths. The constantly changing stats Karen was showing him, no doubt all saying that he was dying.   
Suddenly, an Iron Man suit landed on the roof next to him, nearly making him jump out of his own skin.   
“FRIDAY, run diagnostics on him,” Tony commanded as he knelt down, “Peter, we’re gonna figure out what’s going on now, okay?”   
Peter tried to respond, but only a strangled sob came out.   
“Of course,” Tony muttered angrily to FRIDAY before turning all of his attention back to Peter. He removed his face mask, revealing an expression Peter had never seen on his mentor’s face.  
“Pete, you’re having a panic attack.” 

If this was a panic attack, he hated it. How could he be so stupid, so weak?   
“Hey, we’re gonna take the mask off,” Stark said gently, his hand on Peter’s cheek, “Okay?”   
Peter reached towards his mask, but his hands were shaking so bad...  
“There we go, Pete.”

He looked up at his mentor, full of shame and confusion. How could Mr. Stark stand dealing with him? He was probably relieved when Peter had turned down being an Avenger.   
“Come here,kid,” Stark whispered. Shakily, Peter scooted closer towards his mentor, who wrapped his arms around him.   
“Focus on my breathing, okay? Can you do that for me, Pete?”   
“I-I don’t- I’m not-“ Peter began to stammer through his ragged breaths. But before he could create anything resembling a sentence, Tony Stark interrupted him in a way he’d never imagined. 

“Smile, though your heart is aching,” Tony began to sing, “Smile, even though it’s breaking. When there are clouds in the sky, you’ll get by if you smile through your fear and sorrow. Smile, and maybe tomorrow, you’ll see the sun come shining through for you.” 

Strangely, even stranger than the entire situation, was the fact that he was actually starting to feel better. His breathing was becoming more regular and the tears were flowing slower. 

“Light up your face with gladness. Hide any trace of sadness. Although a tear may be ever so near, that’s the time you must keep on trying. Smile, what’s the use of crying? You’ll find that life is still worthwhile if you just smile.” 

They sat like that together in silence for quite some time, Peter shaking with exhaustion in Tony’s arms. Of course, what the young hero didn’t know was that Tony was also shaking, although only in his hands. Eventually, Peter composed himself enough to speak.  
“I’m sorry, Mr. Stark. It’s just- everything is just so hard.”  
“It always is, kid,” Tony said with a chuckle,”Do you know what set it off?”   
Peter wracked his brain, trying to identify the trigger.  
“I mean, it’s been a shitty week,” he said.  
“I feel that, kid. I- what is it?”

The last part was directed at the fact that Peter’s breathing had begun to speed up again.   
“Hey, hey, hey. You’re okay. It’s okay. I’m here. You’re okay, kid.”  
“In the fire. A part of the roof fell and-“ he trailed off, too overwhelmed to speak at first.   
“It’s okay, Pete. It’s okay,” Tony whispered, gently running his fingers through the young boy’s hair.  
“I guess it just brought back my fight with Toomes in the warehouse and I’ve already been feeling guilty about everything and Flash has been being an asshole talking about Liz and school’s been hell lately and if I ever smell broccoli again-“  
“Sounds like a hell of a week, kid. Why don’t we stop by the Tower? I’ve got some of that ice cream you like. We can eat some of it and talk all this through.”  
Peter blushed.  
“You don’t have to-“  
“Hey!” Tony said sharply, “I’m not offering this because of some sudden, intense desire to be polite.” His voice softened.  
“You’re my Spider-ling. I’m gonna do everything I can to take care of you. Understand?”  
“Yeah, I understand.”  
“Good. Now, let’s get up. My knees can’t take this anymore.”

Peter laughed, a real laugh, as he felt his body releasing some of the tension he’d been holding all week. Though things were far from okay, he knew that the two of them could fix it together.


End file.
